Philippus Baldaeus

Philips Baelde or Philippus Baldaeus, was a Dutch minister. He went to Jaffna during the Dutch period in Ceylon with an invading Dutch force. As the second European after Abraham Rogerius, in his illustrated Description of the East Indian Countries of Malabar, Coromandel, Ceylon, etc. he documented the life, language and culture of the Tamil people, living in the north of the island. It was initially published in Dutch and German, while the English translation was published by the Ceylon Government Railway (1960).